A total of 17 participants completed the Human resources development (HRD) on-site training course on rural aquaculture conducted last March 8-11 in Hai Phong City, Vietnam. The course was a part of the training series being conducted by SEAFDEC in eight member countries under the project HRDon poverty alleviation and foodsecurity by fisheries interventionin the ASEAN region. Two AQD staff – socioeconomist Dr. Nerissa Salayo and training coordinator Ms. Ruby Bombeo -- gave technical and logistical assistance during the training which was designed by Ms. Chau Thi Tuyet Hanh of Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The course was organized to help fish farmers find livelihood options and train them in small-scale culture of new species capable of living in deteriorating aquatic environment.

Topics covered are responsible aquaculture practices & food safety, sustainable rural aquaculture, issues and concerns in peri-urban aquaculture, shrimp culture, and alternative livelihood options. The participants also made two field visits, one to a small farm culturing cá bóp, also known as sleeper fish or goby which is suited to low-quality water, and another to a fish processing facility in Hai Thanh commune where drying of mackerel or tuna was presented as a livelihood option.

In Chaung Tha, Myanmar where the HRD on-sitecourse on mud crab seedproduction was conducted March 23-25, the attendees were 17 government fisheries workers. AQD sent its scientist Dr. Emilia Quinitio to be the resource person. The discussion focused on Scylla olivacea, the most common crab species in Myanmar, and included lectures on broodstock/larval rearing and practical demonstrations on morphology and evaluation of broodstock maturity & egg quality. The training was sponsored by Myanmar’s Department of Fisheries and the Government of Japan.